


accidents/it’ll be okay

by epilogues



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Reunions, the character death is only mentioned but i tagged it just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 04:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19202011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epilogues/pseuds/epilogues
Summary: Dani and Aubrey reunite. Spoilers for Ep. 28.





	accidents/it’ll be okay

**Author's Note:**

> i’m taking prompt requests on tumblr right now (@duckthemundane) and here’s a little fic i wrote for one!
> 
> _prompt: For the prompt request Aubrey reunites with Dani for the first time since she was taken?_

Aubrey doesn’t get to see Dani until the day before the funeral. The lodge has been too frantic, even after things outside mostly calmed down, for her to slip past the watchful eye Barclay maintains outside of Dani’s room. But that night, Barclay has to run downstairs because Mama started burning something while trying to cook. Aubrey hears the commotion from her room and darts across the hall as soon as Barclay disappears down the steps. 

“Dani?” she stage-whispers as she cracks the door open. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah, I - Aubrey?” Dani’s voice is quieter and rougher than Aubrey’s ever heard it, even as it catches on her last word. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” Aubrey says. She steps inside and quickly shuts the door behind herself. “God, I’m so glad to see you, babe. Are you okay? I’ve been trying to see you for days, but Barclay hasn’t let me, and everyone’s been so busy, I mean, you probably know, but, uh, I think things are starting to calm down, there’s just the - um, well there’s the funeral tomorrow, and -“

Dani sits up in her bed immediately, even though the movement looks like it hurts. Her eyes still glow a faint yellow - Aubrey can’t help but think that they match. “Wait,” she says, “wait, Aubrey, whose funeral?”

Aubrey freezes. The small flame she’d been playing with in her hand instantly goes out. She hadn’t even thought that Dani wouldn’t know. Barclay must’ve told her, right? Barclay would’ve, he must’ve. But - “Uh, uh, just, you know. Um. No one important.” _That’s a lie, Ned is, was, so important_. “But uh, anyway, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Barclay thinks I’ll be back to normal soon, but, Aubrey, who died?” The glow of Dani’s eyes is slightly brighter now, and Aubrey can see her hands twisting in her quilt.

“Babe, it’s not a big deal-“ _it’s a huge deal, Ned deserved so much better and he died thinking I hated him and_ \- “just take breathe, okay? Um. Can I just - what do you, uh, remember?”

“I … not much, there was all this light, and then I don’t … everything was kind of fuzzy until Barclay got me back here and into the springs. He’s told me a little about the shifter and how you all found me out by the archway, but…” Dani trails off. The light in her eyes dims, but her hands remain white-knuckled against the fabric of the quilt. Her voice is almost below a whisper when she says, “Aubrey, what happened?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Aubrey says, praying her voice doesn’t sound shaky. “Just lie back down, okay, is there anything I can get you or anything? I probably shouldn’t stay long, I don’t think Barclay will-“

“Aubrey. Who died? What did … what did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything, it wasn’t your fault,” Aubrey says, and even though Mama had eventually explained the exact sequence of events, she knows what she says is true. “There was just an accident.” _What happened was a horrible, horrible accident. A terrible accident._ “There were a - a lot of people at the archway when you came back. And you weren’t in your right mind, no one blames you for anything, but you moved towards some of the people. And - and - someone tackled you. But someone else had already, uh. The person that tackled you, he got shot. And he didn’t make it.”

“Who was it?” Dani asks, and her voice is level now, and this is so, so much worse than if she was crying. 

Aubrey almost wishes she hadn’t come in at all, but she forces herself to take a deep breath and says, “It was Ned.”

Dani doesn’t say anything. She just looks down, curls her knees up to her chest, and wraps her arms around herself. Aubrey’s heart breaks a little when she sees Dani’s shoulders start shaking. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Aubrey says. She climbs onto the bed next to Dani and wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “It’s okay.”

It’s not, of course, but at least Dani is here. She’s here, and she’s okay, and Dr. Harris Bonkers, PHD, is okay. It’s not okay, but at least some things are. Aubrey doesn’t realize she’s been speaking out loud until Dani mumbles out a shaky, “Yeah,” in agreement. 

It’s not okay. But sitting here, with Dani in her arms and the gift of a moment to breathe clasped tightly in her hands, Aubrey knows that it will be, eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading!


End file.
